Initialize java byte array: possible loss of precision

Question

I am initializing a byte[] in Java , using hexadecimal or binary notation.

It seems that auto-casting to byte is not done when the value approaches the capacity of a byte.

Solution is explicit cast to byte .

$ javac bitsandbytes/ByteBufferTest.java 
bitsandbytes/ByteBufferTest.java:9: error: possible loss of precision
    static byte[] byteArray = { 0xFF, (byte) 0xCC, 0xCC, 0b1000_0000, 0x2F, 0x01 };
                                ^
  required: byte
  found:    int
bitsandbytes/ByteBufferTest.java:9: error: possible loss of precision
    static byte[] byteArray = { 0xFF, (byte) 0xCC, 0xCC, 0b1000_0000, 0x2F, 0x01 };
                                                   ^
  required: byte
  found:    int
bitsandbytes/ByteBufferTest.java:9: error: possible loss of precision
    static byte[] byteArray = { 0xFF, (byte) 0xCC, 0xCC, 0b1000_0000, 0x2F, 0x01 };
                                                         ^
  required: byte
  found:    int
3 errors

Answer 1

It seems that auto-casting to byte is not done when the value approaches the capacity of a byte.

No, it happens when the value is out of range. A byte in Java is in the range [-128, 127]. So 0xcc is out of range, for example... although this has nothing to do with which base you express the literal in.

If you have:

byte[] x = { 127 };
System.out.println(x[0]);

that will print 127, because it's in the range of byte . If you have:

byte[] x = { (byte) 128 };
System.out.println(x[0]);

... that will print -128. That would be very unexpected if you didn't have an explicit cast.

Admittedly an error message about "precision" is odd - and not what I receive. I see this:

error: incompatible types: possible lossy conversion from int to byte

It is a lossy conversion, so that's fine. I wouldn't talk about that being a precision issue though, which is what I'd expect for a conversion of (say) double to float .

In terms of the JLS, the relevant section is 5.2 , which applies to each VariableInitializer in the ArrayInitializer.

This is the important part (emphasis mine):

In addition, if the expression is a constant expression (§15.28) of type byte , short , char , or int :

• A narrowing primitive conversion may be used if the type of the variable is byte , short , or char , and the value of the constant expression is representable in the type of the variable .

The examples you've given aren't representable in the byte type, hence the error.